Pivoted implements having elongated members disposed for cooperative engagement about a pivotable joint are widely used. In particular, pivoted tools such as "anvil-type" pruning snips generally comprise two elongated members disposed for cooperative engagement about a pivotable joint, each member having a jaw and an opposed force-applying end. One member, which is typically made of stamped or forged metal or other suitable material, includes a jaw formed as a blade and a tang at the opposed force-applying end. A handle preferably made of moldable material is formed onto the tang, conforming to the fingers or hands of the user. The other member includes a jaw formed as an anvil and a handle at the opposed force-applying end. Upon scissor-action of the handles, the blade cooperates with the anvil to perform the desired cutting operation.
Pruning snips of the type used to cut flowers, fruit, or the like, are often conveniently provided with a retaining member or "gripper". The gripper is adapted to temporarily but firmly retain the severed portion of a workpiece, such as the stem of the fruit or flower, after the cutting operation is completed. This prevents damaging the fruit or flower that would most likely result if the severed portion of the fruit or flower was dropped after being cut. Snips provided with a gripping feature are particularly useful when the user has to brace himself or herself with one hand, while using the snips with the other hand.
Examples of prior art pruning snips provided with a gripper are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,336,667 issued Aug. 22, 1967 to Wallace et al., and in U.S. Pat. No. 2,553,697 issued May 22, 1951 to Zacrep. Wallace discloses the use of a spring biased member 92 pivoted about pivot 18. On the other hand, Zacrep discloses the use of a unitary wire member configured to permit attachment to pivot point 15 of the snips. The wire member also includes gripping arms 18 and 19 provided with extensions 20 and 21 extending laterally about cutting jaws 13 to grip the portion of the stem being severed. In more recent prior art snips, the unitary wire member is made out of plastic and is connected to the snips at the pivot of the snips.
While snips of the type described in the foregoing suitably perform the desired gripping function, it can be readily appreciated that these prior art structures have several shortcomings. First, these snips typically include various components which require in some cases several manufacturing steps, followed by their attachment to the snips. In addition, since snips are normally used with live growths, the sap of the plant being pruned will likely enter the gripper mechanism and interfere with its desired operation. It will therefore be necessary to disassemble these components to clean the gripper. Finally, while a unitary wire structure of the type disclosed by Zacrep offers the obvious advantage of including only one component, thereby potentially reducing the cost of that feature and facilitating cleaning the tool after normal usage, its exposed structure makes it prone to being caught in the foliage through which snips are typically guided by the user.
In light of the foregoing, it appears desirable to provide a pruning snips having a gripper which can alleviate the problems associated with conventional items of that kind, i.e., which includes fewer components to reduce its cost and facilitate its disassembly, and which is configured such that it is less susceptible to being caught in congested foliage areas.
It can also be recognized that prior art methods used to manufacture snips have certain obvious disadvantages. These methods typically require assembling two members which have been previously manufactured separately and installing the components of the gripping mechanism, thereby increasing material handling requirements which generally translates into higher unit cost.
In cases where the snips are provided with molded handles, conventional molding operations consist of positioning a jaw (i.e., the blade) having an aperture in a suitable cavity of a mold wherein the jaw is fixed in position with respect to the mold. The mold cavity is subsequently filled with a fluid plastic material or the like, whereby the plastic material surrounds the tang of the jaw so that the handle is molded onto the tang. The same operation is separately repeated to form the handle of the other member. The two handle sub-assemblies are then inventoried as required. As at least one additional operation, the components of the gripper are formed. To assemble the snips, the operator brings the apertures of the jaw/handle sub-assemblies into registration to install a separate pivot member, typically including a fastener, maintaining the jaws in cooperative assembled relationship about the pivotable joint. The gripper is also installed prior to fastening the members together.
Thus, the foregoing also indicates that, not only is it desirable to provide snips with fewer components less prone to being caught in heavy foliage areas, it is also desirable to provide snips which are engineered to lend themselves to functional assembling during, as opposed to subsequent to, the manufacturing process, or which otherwise reduce the number of operations required to manufacture these tools, while having all necessary features typically desired by users of these tools.